The returned wallet

Source: an original fiction extract.

The wallet lay beside the supermarket trolley bay, dark leather against wet concrete. Ben picked it up before a wheel passed over it. Inside were bank cards, a folded photograph and several notes held beneath a metal clip. He did not count them. His bus was due in six minutes, and the next would make him late for work. Across the car park, the customer service sign glowed above a queue. He stood with the wallet in one hand and his shopping in the other, wishing somebody else had noticed it first.

At the desk, a woman was explaining a missing delivery. Ben waited behind her, checking the doors whenever a bus went past the windows. The wallet's owner was called Adrian Wells. There was an address on one card, but it was on the far side of town. Ben imagined a grateful phone call and then felt embarrassed by the thought. Returning it should not require an audience. He placed the wallet on the counter when his turn came and told the assistant exactly where he had found it.

Before she could put it in the drawer, a man hurried through the entrance asking whether anyone had handed in a wallet. The assistant asked him to describe it. He did, including the photograph of a child in a yellow coat. When she passed it across, he opened it at once and checked the notes. Ben watched his thumb move beneath the clip. The man asked whether this was how it had been found. Ben said yes. There was a pause that seemed longer than the question required. Then the man thanked the assistant and turned away.

Ben could see his bus beyond the glass. Its doors closed while he was still reaching for his shopping. The assistant said she was sorry. 'You did the right thing,' she added. He wanted to tell her that he had lost ten minutes in order to be suspected of stealing. Instead, he said that he knew, too sharply, and carried his bags outside. At the shelter he rang his manager. Rain blew beneath the roof and spotted the paper bag containing his lunch. He shifted it under his coat and watched the timetable blur.

That evening, he told his sister the story, including what he had imagined about a grateful phone call. She laughed at that part and then listened to the rest. She said the man might have been frightened rather than suspicious. Ben said he might. It did not make the missed bus less annoying. Before going to bed he checked that his own wallet was in his jacket, then put a card with his telephone number inside it. The next morning he left five minutes earlier. He still thought he would pick up another wallet, though he hoped the next person might at least look at him.

Consider the whole source. A reader said: “The story makes Ben’s honesty convincing because doing the right thing brings neither an easy reward nor complete satisfaction.” Evaluate how far you agree. Support your judgement with detailed references to the text and the writer’s methods.